Eleventy!

I'm totally still here, believe it or not. Work has been a total bear and I had Kathy in town visiting, so Weight Watchers (and blogging about my fat ass) wasn't a high priority for me. But I'm back On Plan again today and it feels good to be back in a routine.

Brief (ok, I'm never brief) synopisis of what's been going down in Chubtown.  Since January 30th, which was my first weigh-in day, I'm down 11.4 lbs.  Slower than molasses on humping old people in January. But!  Down is down, so I will take it.  Are my dreams of being Giselle by the Fall dashed against the rocks?  they would be if I thought that was even possible, so no. But, I'm probably not going to be as far along as I'd hoped.  C'est la vie! That's French for "Shit Happens".

The week of 3/5, Kathy was in town, so there was much dining out and cocktailing to be had. I tried to keep my dining out reigned in, except for sushi, when I stuffed my face and had to be rolled out the door.  I saved my Points (which I was only mentally logging) for all the high falutin' booze we were enjoying. (Cocktails at the Chandelier in Cosmopolitan Hotel & Casino, my friends. Don't miss them.) 

However, on the heels of Kathy's departure, the same weekend I took my Prius II in for an oil change, I unexpectedly purchased a different car and I got hit with norovirus (again).  So, I became good friends with the public restrooms the Toyota dealership mid-deal. The last thing I wanted to do was barf in my new Prius C, so I prayed to the Gut Gods on the way home and only had to pull over once. Mazel tov on your purchase!

But, I did lose 5.6 lbs the week of 3/12.  I realize it's not the healthier way to do so and that it was mostly water, so I chose not to weigh myself the following Monday lest I get all depressed at the inevitable (and totally logical) gain. I couldn't seem to get back into logging, though, so I just kept my eye on things in general and was pleased to find that this week, I only gained back 1.8 lbs. So, still a loss, as far as I'm concerned.

I realize I have kind of been farting along with this, not wanting to actually exercise. I've been doing the whole, "I just need to get a handle on my food and then I'll add exercise." Well, it's been 3 months, when exactly do I plan on adding that? 

Looks like I need to bust out my old Leslie Sansone Walk-Away DVDs.  Those were effective for me the first time and convenient.  I'm in the midst of the 4 weeks of Spring we get in Vegas before it turns into the surface of Mars, so I should take advantage of the fresh air and walk around my 'hood.  And once it is kiln hot outside, I can resume the water aerobics at the gym, even if it does smell like heavily-chlorinated old people.

I can't keep ignoring the results that exercise brings to the table. I just loathe it so...

Would You Like Us to Assign Someone to Butter Your Muffin?

Hello! I did say I had some recipes, didn't I?  I have several, but we'll start here with these yummy raisin bran muffins I found on weightwatchers.com

I made a few tiny changes to the recipe, mostly because I was lazy and forgot to soften the butter, but doing so saved me a whole point per muffin, I just discovered, so I like them even more now. I thought 5 points for one measly muffin was kind of high, but fortunately, my change whittled them down to 4 Points each and they are pretty filling. I've had one with my coffee every morning for the last couple days and along with my vitamins and maybe some fruit, it's very filling.

Raisin Bran Muffins

Original recipe: 5 points, My Version 4 Points.

Ingredients

• 2 spray(s) cooking spray
• 1 cup(s) whole wheat flour
• 2/3 cup(s) uncooked wheat bran (I had a hard time finding this, but eventually found wheat bran at Whole Foods. Oat bran would likely work just as well.)
• 1/4 tsp sea salt
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 2 tsp ground cinnamon (They call for one, but I love cinnamon.)
• 4 tbsp Land O Lakes Light Butter with Canola Oil (They called for 1/4 cup(s) regular butter, softened, but I forgot to soften it and just used what was handy. I think they came out delicious and it saves a Point per muffin.)
• 2/3 cup(s) Sugar in the Raw Turbinado Sugar from Natural Cane, or other brand
• 1 large egg(s)
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 1 cup(s) raisins, chopped (I tried, but they were sticky, and I didn't see their tip about coating the knife in cooking spray first, so they weren't as chopped as I suspect the recipe wanted.)

Instructions

Preheat your oven to 400ºF. Coat a 12-cup muffin tin with cooking spray. I used butter-flavor, but plain works just as well.

In a medium bowl, combine flour, wheat bran, salt, baking soda and cinnamon; set aside.

Using an electric mixer (I did not use an electric mixer, I kicked it old school, stirring by hand) in a large bowl, cream butter with sugar until sugar is dissolved; add egg and beat thoroughly. Add 1/3 of bran mixture and 1/3 cup of buttermilk; mix until just combined. Repeat, alternating, with remaining bran mixture and buttermilk; fold in raisins.  (I actually forgot to alternate and just threw in the buttermilk with the egg and creamed sugar mixture. It came out just fine.)

Fill each prepared muffin hole about 2/3 full with batter; place in middle of oven. Bake until a toothpick inserted in center of a muffin comes out clean, about 15 to 20 minutes (I went around 18 minutes). One muffin per serving.

4 Points Plus

Overall, these are good muffins and not too dry if you don't overcook them. Mine came out of the pan easily and if you use butter-flavor cooking spray on the muffin tin, as I did, it's got a baked-in buttery flavor that didn't require that I add any actual butter.  If I had my way, I'd add nuts and more raisins, but I know that would totally make it like an 8-10 Point muffin and that's just lame. If I'm going to have an "expensive" muffin, I'll go to a good bakery, thanks.

I've started making muffins on the weekend to eat throughout the week as I don't always like to eat breakfast.  I just want something quick I can grab and a muffin is quite filling. I made the Skinnytaste banana chocolate chip muffins a couple weeks ago, which I also made some minor mods to and I'll share here soon.

What the Kale?!

Phew!  Ok, so I'm back. Naturally, I finally decide to start posting actual stuff here and an upgrade hiccup made it so I couldn't.  Murphy and all that, I guess.

Anyway, it's been 2 weeks since I had my pity party here over 2 lbs and I'm happy to report that after 3 weeks on Weight Watchers, I'm down 6 lbs.  This week I only lost .2, which normally I'd be upset about, but since the week before I lost almost 4, I decided to just ride it out.  I'm hoping next week will show more generous results.

Tracking gets a little tedious, but I'm sticking with it.  Water consumption is way, way up -- about 3 liters a day, thanks to MiO's new tangerine orange flavor.

I've been cooking a lot -- just about every night .  I have several recipes I'll share, some hits, a couple misses (I'll spare you those), but despite hating the mountain of dishes I always seem to have, I'm enjoying cooking. I'd forgotten how much I liked it.

Source: everydaymaven.com via Joelle on Pinterest

Speaking of cooking, can we talk about kale chips for a minute?  I've yet to make them, despite everyone's ravings, not because I'm not intrigued but because Weight Watchers counts them as FIVE points -- at least according to the recipe in this month's magazine (Weight Watchers Magazine, March/April, page 24).  I think that has got to be some kind of error.

I understand that vegetables arent "free" when you incorporate them into a proper recipe (another thing I don't get), but if all I'm doing is misting some kale with olive oil cooking spray and roasting it in the oven, how exactly is that FIVE points?  How much olive oil mist do you have to consume before it's five points?  I tsp of olive oil is 1 point, which is what the recipe calls for per 3 cups of kale. So basically, they're saying they're saying 3 cups of kale somehow equals 4 tsp of olive oil?  I call bollocks. 

Here's the recipe, as they have it listed:

Weight Watchers Kale Bites

• Tear 3 cup of kale into bite-size pieces, toss with 1 teaspoon of olive oil and a dash of salt and pepper. 
• Spread on a greased baking sheet and bake at 350 for 10 minutes or until crispy.

5 Points*

*Pointsplus Values were calculated by adding the nutrition information for each ingredient using the online recipe builder.

I used the recipe builder myself to see if that was accurate and indeed, it shows up as 5 points. If you remove the kale entirely from the recipe, it's back to 1 point. I personally would just use my olive oil mister, but kale is actually four points on its own?  Lame.

 I realize kale is healthy for you, but I don't really see how five points would motivate someone to go through the trouble of making kale chips when cracking open a bag of beloved baked Cheetos "costs less".  Are they 5 points good?

Whoa, Whoa, Whoa Feelings.

I finished my first week back on Weight Watchers and lost 2.2 lbs. This is a completely reasonable and healthy amount, exactly what I should have lost.  So, on the surface, I'm happy.  But underneath, there's a niggling disapproval.  "All that for only two pounds? But you logged every morsel!"  "It's your first week, you should've lost at least 3 lbs."  "You drank all that water, why didn't you lose more?"  Etcetera, etcetera...

I've also just decided I don't like the word "niggling".  

Anyway, this isn't my first time at the fat ass rodeo, so I'm totally aware of all the usual consolations that people come back with when someone says such things. "But two pounds a week is healthy."  "You shouldn't lose more than that, slow is best."  And assorted other "don't give up!"-type mantras.

And I appreciate those kind words, I do. But I find them frustrating on occasion. I guess I want someone to say, "Hey, man, I know how you feel" instead of blowing sunshine up my ass. This is why I don't talk about my feelings surrounding weight loss too much because instead of focusing on the fact that I said "I FEEL this way", comments focus on the above-mentioned rah-rah stuff. It's not about that. I know that 2 lbs is the right amount. I know that slow is best. I know, I KNOW. I KNOW!!!!

But that doesn't stop me from feeling like it's not.  I don't expect the internet to be my therapist or have the right thing to say -- I know people are kind and only trying to help, but I guess I'm just realizing that accepting emotional support is not my forte.  I get defensive and feel like the support is directed at things I already know (my father always said I was a know-it-all) instead of on the thing I'm really seeking support for.

Selfish, right? Bratty, even? Agreed. I'm not above admitting that.

Perhaps the answer is being more clear with the support I'm seeking. I don't want people to be afraid to talk to me or seek support from me because they think I won't be receptive. That's the last thing I want -- if someone wants me to blow unicorns and rainbows up their ass and spout "YOU GO GIRL!", I'll do that.  Because that's what they want. That's not what I want, I guess. I don't want assholery, I want... "I hear you and I get it", I guess.

I can't expect people to know exactly what to say.  That's not fair of me.  Everyone is in the same boat, doing their best to get by or make it through. It's not all about me -- again, something I already know.  I can't help how I feel. All I can do is try to change my attitude about it.

Sigh. I suck at joining.

Porky’s Revenge

Around noon yesterday, I put a pork loin in the slow cooker for dinner around 8:30-9pm (we eat late around here because mikey doesn't get off work until then).  The plan?  Slow cooked shredded pork tacos, a fairly regular menu item here since I first made it last year.

Cut to around 3:30pm, when Mike texts me that we were going to see Carrot Top at the Luxor at 8:30pm thanks to some free tickets from his work.  I'm not a big Carrot Top fan, but I figure as long as we have to live in this (I want to say sucky) town, we might as well enjoy the few perks.  I normally wouldn't consider Carrot Top a perk, as I'm not really a fan of prop comedy and his eyebrows upset me, but I am trying to be more spontaneous, so I agreed to go.

So, around 8:15, I knocked the slowcooker back down to "warm" and we hit the Strip for some, admittedly, fairly funny comedy. Not my usual brand, but I can't pretend I didn't laugh. 

When we got home, the house smelled like an abuelita's kitchen. (That's spanish for Grandmother, in case you weren't sure. Also, an excellent instant Mexican hot cocoa mix.)  I made some totally not low-carb or low-fat Tortillaland flour tortillas in the skillet (they're the uncooked/raw tortillas you can get in the chilled Mexican food section of the market), 8 points of totally worth it and 3.5 ounces of the tenderest pork I'd ever made.

Bear in mind, it's been slow cooking for like 10 hours. So this stuff just melts in your mouth. And it was so easy, it's ridiculous. Next time, I'll take pictures -- I'm not sure why I didn't do that.

Ingredients

• 1 pork center-cut loin roast (I used the lemon-garlic Hormel brand because they didn't have regular and it's a concession I will be making again. So good!)
• 1 big yellow onion
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 1 cup of water, chicken broth or beer (I prefer beer, but didn't have any, so I used water for this recipe)
• Cumin
• Coriander
• Chili Powder
• Hot Sauce (I used some left over from the local taco shop, but you can use whatever you dig)
• Olive oil

This recipe is perfect for one of those small slow cookers for two, which is what I have. It gives you enough for dinner that night and at least 2 meals of leftovers.

First, I line my slowcooker a brilliant invention: slow cooker liners -- they make clean up SUPER easy.  I do a medium slice on the onion and lay the slices down along the bottom, along with the garlic cloves, which i've peeled and smashed a bit to release the oils and flavor.  I drizzle both with a tablespoon or two of olive oil.

Then, I rub my pork loin (I can't say this without cracking a smile) with a generous amount of the spices, cumin and coriander.  I go less heavy on the chili powder, because it can quickly take over, so I am just sprinkling that on.  Hit it with some salt & pepper and don't forget to get both sides.  Lay it down on top of your onions and garlic, then pour your one cup of liquid (water, beer, whatever) around the outside of it.

I lay it fat side up at first. I do this so it stays moist during the first part of cooking.  Pour some hot sauce over the fat side-up to your liking. I like things spicy, but mike doesn't like it as much, so I just did a enough to coat the top, maybe a couple tablespoons.  Put the lid on, set it to low and off you go.

As it starts to break down, about half way through the cooking time I flip it fat-side down and use the liquid that's started to accumulate in the bottom to baste the top.  You can always trim off that thin layer of fat completely, but I find it adds flavor and keeps the meat moist, so I just leave it on. I'm not eating the fat directly and don't really use the juices in my meal, so I'm not worried too much about additional Points or calories.

My meal was 3.5 ounces of lean pork (4 points), 2 tortillas (8 points), 1/4 cup of lowfat shredded mexican cheese (2 points) for a sizable total of 14 Points.  Now, that might seem like a lot, but I had plenty of points for it so I didn't mind using the real tortillas. But you could easily shave off some points by going with low-carb or low-fat tortillas or none at all and make it a salad.

The "Revenge" part of this post is that this morning, coming down the stairs, I couldn't figure out why I still smelled last night's dinner so intensely.  Turns out, I'd left the crock pot  low (not even warm!) the entire night. I don't know how that happened, but I'm glad I didn't burn the house down.  The slow cooker liner that I love so much was cooked right onto the pot and everything inside was burned. BUT, luckily, the slow cooker liners are awesome, so just a few tugs pulled it right out, I tied it up and threw it away. Easy peasy.  If I hadn't had that in there, it would've taken forever to soak that off.

So, lessons learned here:  Pork is good. Slow cooker liners are awesome.  Leaving it on overnight makes your house smell like a delicious plastic factory.  Note to self.

Pssst! Over Here!

Yeah, so. We meet again. And again. And then one more time. And hey, look! Again.

Of course, I'm assuming anyone is still reading this. I've seen lots of unfollows on Twitter, which is expected when I never update. Can't blame 'em!   But, I'm not ready to give up this blog.  I'm going to scale back my original plans for it, though.  Initially, I'd seen this site as this awesome resource, similar to how it was when we launched and were so popular in 2003.  But I have precious little time and frankly, I don't feel like jockeying with the many fitness and weight loss magazine type blogs out there these days.  They're all great and they work hard to deliver that good content. I don't really feel like blogging stuff you can read on 3 other blogs or in this month's Self. They've got it covered and they're doing a fine job at it.

Plus, I don't know... I think initially, I'd felt like I needed to be some kind of motivator or something because when I first started this site I'd recently lost 100 lbs on Weight Watchers (of which I've gained back a little over half).  So many people told me I had been such an inspiration to them and I didn't want to let them down, so I got all wrapped up in being a resource, providing "content" that I started to do the exact opposite, froze up and pressured myself into being an ostrich when it came to posting here -- and when it came to losing weight in general. I seriously had to get over myself.

2011 was a year of faux commitment in terms of dieting. I wanted to care, but I just didn't.  Last January, I started Weight Watchers again in earnest -- and I lost about 22 lbs. Then I started to stray... it must be Weight Watchers, right? It wasn't working anymore!  I felt restricted!  I needed freedom!  So I quit Weight Watcher and started tracking with Lose It!, which is basically just straight-up calorie counting.

But that wasn't sticking either. What it boils down to is that I just haven't been all-in.  I haven't wanted to track my points.  I haven't wanted to report that extra slice of pizza.  I didn't want to have to log anything or tell anyone or ask permission or tweet it or track it.  I was being plain stubborn.

And it shows on my ass.

Something has to give because I feel like hell.  It's not as much about "looking hot" anymore (though that's always a bonus), I want to feel hot.  I'm going to be 40 in twenty-two months -- just under two years. I do not want to feel like this at 40.  I look at myself sometimes and have no idea who that person is.  And as arrogant as this might seem, I look at myself as if I were someone else and think, "Dude, you're way too fabulous for this rubbish."

And you know? I totally am. I'm not getting any younger, do I really want to waste more of my youth being a frump? I'd like to wear a pair of jeans from the Gap again before I'm pushing daisies, thanks.

I rejoined Weight Watchers today.  I started a new account, thinking that maybe not having my previous graphs and expectations waving me in the face might be good. (More smoke and mirrors!) I don't want to be reminded of how I screwed it all up, I just want to move forward. 

I like Lose It still and am hoping to track in there, as well, mostly because I'm curious how the points vs. calories add up.  I just think the structure of Weight Watchers is what I need now, despite my resistance to it.  Plus, I know a few other folks who have inspired me recently with their Weight Watchers successes, so I'm willing to give it another go. It does work, it worked before -- I just gave up before I was finished, if I'm being honest.

So, anyway, I hope to blog more here.  I am cooking more and want to share the recipes that I try. I won't be able to post more than one or two a week because there are only two of us and most recipes have leftovers, but it gives me something to blog about.

In the meantime, I'm going to just let this blog become what it wants to be.  That goes double for me.

Childless Wants Her Body Back

While awake at 3am in my hotel room the other night, I was watching an informercial for a workout system called "Mama Wants".  It seems like a great workout that's time effective and targets notorious trouble zones for women. I was genuninely interested in buying it. I may not have kids, but I've got a gut I wouldn't mind ditching and not a lot of time to devote to exercise.

But the longer I watched it, the more annoyed I became.  I understand that it's called "Mama Wants" and it's designed to be marketed to moms. Moms are hot right now. I totally get how marketing works.

An aside, back in 2006, Kathy and I were asked to author a tech book specifically marketed to women with a "girlfriends tone", heavy on the sass and girlie extras that one doesn't normally find in a tech book.  So we did and that was one of the biggest complaints about out it.  Some women didn't like feeling pandered to, they didn't like that "their" book was pink, etc. I respect that perspective, but our point of view on that was, "Thank you for your opinion, but you don't have to buy it.  If pink isn't your thing, buy a different book."  Everybody wins.  We didn't ever imply that the book was for every woman. It doesn't say "For all women" on it.  It just happens to be pink and has the word "girl" in the title -- a title that made sense for the pop culture at the time.

So I totally get that this system is targeting a niche and that I could do the workouts without being a mom and shut up about it or just buy some other workout.

This is more of a marketing critique -- a way they could have increased their sales.  I think they could have acknowledged that there are women on this planet that don't have kids that still could benefit from the workout.  Just one line in their informercial like "And it's not just for moms!" or throwing in a testimonial from a non-mom would have included a whole audience of women that they've virually excluded.  By not even throwing them a bone, they're basically saying "This workout won't benefit you unless you've carried a child", thereby implying women aren't important unless they are moms.

I realize that sounds overly sensitive or bitter even as I'm even typing it, but that was the reaction I had. Marketing is all about reactions, so I'm conveying how their marketing affected me. I'm not anti-mom -- I had a mom, my friends are moms. It's not about that. But you can't escape the mom frenzy online right now and non-moms would still like to be acknowledged once in a while. Guess what? We buy things, too. We have disposable income, even!  

Most women face the same trouble zones when they're overweight, baby or not -- glutes, inner thighs, triceps, and the all-important abdominals.  And in my opinion, all women need a stronger back, not just the ones with kids on their hips.  All women lift things, most carry groceries, do housework -- we can all benefit from those sorts of strengthening exercises. We can all benefit from these workouts.

I think, if they'd just added one line or one testimonial from someone who wasn't a mom in their marketing, I wouldn't have had this reaction. As I said, I understand the marketing tactic, I get the demographic it's trying to reach. But by negating the rest of the women on the planet, it just pissed me off.  That one tiny bit of copy, that one testimonial would have allowed me to accept, "Hey, that's their target audience, I can still do the workouts!" and go on to squat, lift and stretch to endless mom-related chatter. That would have been my choice.  But to broadstroke that it's for moms specifically makes me not want to buy the product at all. Sale lost.  And isn't that ultimately what it's all about?

But I guess their response could be the same as ours to our book, "Thank you for your opinion, but go buy another workout if you don't like it."  The difference is our book had pretty much the same technical info found in other tech books, served up in a fun, less-dry, girlie package.  I've not seen a similar non-mom workout.  It's too bad, really, the workout looks really great. 

Vitalicious VitaSandwiches are VitaMediocre

Let's spare everyone the "I haven't posted much" apology and just jump right in, shall we?

I was cruising Target's frozen food aisles for new stuff and stumbled upon Vitalicious' VitaSandwiches -- basically egg mcmuffins in your freezer, but healthier.  They had two options: veggie and cheese or egg n' cheese. The veggie one also has egg, but it's just got little red and green pepper flecks in it.  I chose the simple Egg N' Cheese version.

For those not in the know, Vitalicious are the folks that bring you Hungry Girl's beloved VitaTops muffin tops. I should probably disclose that I'm not really a fan of those, but it didn't influence my opinion of these sandwiches, since they're completely different products.

Cut to this morning. I normally hate how microwaved bread tastes, so I was happy to see they had two variations on how to cook them: "regular" (in the microwave, wrapped in a paper towel) or "extra-crispy". The extra-crispy version required that I dismantle the sandwich in frozen form, then toast the bread for 2-3 minutes while microwaving the egg part for 55 seconds, then reassembling and re-microwaving to melt the cheese for an additional 10 seconds. 

I went the extra-crispy route, which was all fun and games until the cheese-melty part took an additional 20 seconds, resulting in a rubbery muffin and tough egg. But really, for microwaves breakfast sandwiches, that's par for the course. You can't predict the results of every microwave. I've had worse (*cough*healthychoice*cough*).

Overall, the sandwich was just ok.  It was only 150 calories, which was a huge bonus, but it wasn't very filling and I really wasn't into the weird honey flavor of the english muffin. I assume it was honey wheat, but I'm not big on sweet with my eggs and cheese. I think a standard wheat would have been better, but that's subject to your own palette. The cheese was tasteless, as far as I'm concerned. I wouldn't have noticed if it were missing. The egg was actually fine, aside from being a bit rubbery. It tasted like... well, microwaved egg, which I don't really have a problem with when time is of the essence.

Personally, I'd rather grab a Deli Thin or Sandwich Round or whatever, microwave my own fresh egg (or even a 1/4 cup of egg beaters) and add Laughing Cow or a half-slice of my favorite reduced-fat cheese.  A real egg would up the calories, but 1/4 of egg beaters would be result in a sandwich about the same as what they're selling in about the same amount of time.  And at $4.00 a box -- for 2 sandwiches -- I don't feel the VitaSandwiches are worth the cost.  However, if you'd like to try one for yourself, they are offering a coupon deal on their site.

I suppose if you're on the go, these are fine, but if you're going to do the extra-crispy prep, you might as well just make your own sammich. I wouldn't buy them again because I'm not "on the go" -- I work at home. But I think if they were on sale, or you had coupons or you found 'em at Costco, someone might dig' em. That someone is just not me.  Sorry, Vitalicious!

I give this 3 donuts.

We Meet Again, Again.

A few months since my last post and fortunately, only 4 lbs more than I was when I made it. I just got back from a mexican-food laden vacation in my hometown of San Diego, so... well, beans happen.

I kind of got stuck after 21 lbs. I got all the way down to 25lbs lost, but quickly gained those 4 lbs back due to... well, food. And Bravo's summer programming.

So, here I am, starting anew.  I've decided to scrap Weight Watchers for now. I think it's a fantastic program, but I was tired of paying for it, never went to meetings, and even with the new PointsPlus system, I felt frustrated. I felt guilty ALL the time because what I ate, even when it was a healthy choice, didn't always meet with their "approval". And after almost a decade, I'm tired of "watching" my weight. I want to lose it, not watch it. While I realize that losing weight, especially a large amount, is a lifestyle change -- I don't want to be a Weight Watcher for the rest of my life. I want to lose the weight and then maintain a healthy lifestyle. WW was starting to feel like a life sentence with how many times I stopped and started.

Again, no fault to the program, it works if you work it, but I was just tired of working it.

Enter Lose It!, which is similar to WW in that you log your food and your exercise, but there's a more cohesive social component that I like better. It feels a bit more modern than Weight Watchers in that aspect.  You can share your exercise and accomplishments to Twitter/Facebook, they have a mobile app and the best part -- it's FREE.

 It tallies my fat and my calories and all that jazz, as well as tells me how much of a deficit I have every day and I am totally nerding out over all the charts n' graphs n' reports. You earn badges, much like other social media these days, which is a minor, but fun incentive. It also allows me to tally in my Fit Bit automatically. I also like that working out for 30 minutes gives you real numbers. I was always depressed when I'd do what I thought was a good workout and get 2 lousy points.  Now I can see that an hour of water aerobics burns 400 calories. That makes me feel like it's *something* and not just a Tic-Tac's worth of effort.

We'll see how it goes, but a bunch of us have already started on it. Everyone is seeing results and everyone has plenty of calories left over at the end of the day they are free to eat.  Everyone, so far, has said that they feel less restricted, that overall, it's easier. I joined a few weeks ago, but wanted to wait until post-vacation to begin in earnest.  

I like that it tells me, at 2 lbs a week, by this time next year, I'll be at my goal.  It's in my face every time I log in -- by X time, you'll be X weight.  It's a constant motivator, a reminder when I feel frustrated, that there's an end point, there's a goal. With Weight Watchers (while its still a great program), I felt like i would be dieting forever.  

I still kind of follow WW in my head -- I'm long-trained on Points, but I can see where I may feel more freedom. And those philosophies and portion control ideas I learned on WW are invaluable. But now, I'm a big girl (no pun intended) and I know what I need to do. Hopefully, Lose It!, along with my support system of participating friends, will be the ticket to keep me on track.

Are you on Lose It?  Still doing Weight Watchers? What's your tool to stay on track?

The Unintentional Diet

Well, here I am... almost 6 months into 2011 and I'm down 21.2 pounds.  I'd hoped to be further along, but I got stuck around 17 lbs for a couple months and apparently, it just took a rather nasty stomach flu/food poisoning/prayer for a swift death to push me over the plateau.

I'm not recommending this method. I wouldn't recommend this to my worst enemy.  Well... maybe them, as long as they were going to live.

But, there it is -- even after rehydrating and gaining a couple pounds back when I was finally able to eat, I'm still down roughly 4 lbs since before I got sick this past Saturday. I know this is not a healthy way to lose weight and again, let me reiterate, I'm not recommending it, but I won't say I'm not happy to be off that dime I was stuck on for so long.

Strangely, I feel better than before I got sick. That's likely a product of a renewed psychological outlook based on the weight loss, but also I feel trimmer, more vibrant, as though in getting sick I had exorcised some kind of parasite that was weighing me down -- both literally and figuratively.

But likely, it was just some employee who didn't wash his hands before making my chicken tacos.

21 pounds down. Let's keep this going.

Francesco Rinaldi ToBe Healthy Pasta Sauce

I may be late to the party with this one, but I'd seen it on the shelf for a while and always kind of skimmed past it, ready to grab my usual Classico Spicy Pepper pasta sauce.  But the last time I went shopping, there was a price-cut on Francesco Rinald's ToBe Healthy pasta sauces and the word "healthy" jumped out at me, so I decided to check it out.

When we flipped over the Garlic and Onion flavor jar to read the ingredients, we were pleasantly surprised to find a minimal list that included things I could actually pronounce: diced tomatoes, tomato puree, onions, carrots, red peppers, extra virgin olive oil... all things I recognized.  We also noted it is gluten free and recommended by the AHA, as well as includes extra Omega 3 and all at 60 calories and 2 grams of fat for a half cup serving.  Not too shabby!

So, naturally, I stuck it in my cabinet and forgot about it.

Last night, I needed something easy for dinner, so I pulled out some protein-packed whole grain farfalle (the bowties!) and while that boiled, I simmered the whole jar of ToBe Healthy sauce, adding nothing except a tablespoon of freshly grated romano.  Pasta done, sauce warm, I just tossed it all together, plated and topped with a dusting of parmesan.

It. Was. Awesome.  Seriously, I'm not a huge "jar sauce" person -- i find them to be too sugary or too heavy or too loaded with unnecessary weird preservatives. Or they're really bland and I need to doctor them up to make them interesting.  In this case, I really didn't do much.  Heat n' serve and off you go.

The size of the jar seems to be smaller than other pasta sauces on the market at 16oz compared to 22-24oz of other brands, even Rinaldi's other lines. But I think if it's priced right at your store and for me, if health is important, even if it's not on sale, it's a good purchase. It actually tastes good.

I'll be buying this sauce again -- I really want to try the Spicy Marinara.  But I definitely liked it -- enough that I actually updated this blog, so that's saying something. ;-)

Weight Watchers PointsPlus:  2, per half-cup serving.

I give this 4.5 donuts.

Keep on Truckin’

So, I've been quiet for a while... mostly because I've had nothing to say about my weight loss. I've hit a plateau and am still stuck at 17 lbs lost. I gained one, I lost one, I gained 2, I lost 3, I gained one... it's just hovering. 

Of course, I know why this is -- I've not been diligently following Weight Watchers. Not that I've gone nuts, mind you, but I've been lax in my counting of points, doing a lot of eyeballing.  Still making mostly healthy choices, but admittedly, not trying that hard.  I have started going to the gym more often which I'm sure is probably what's keeping me from going backwards, but I really need to focus. 

The gym-attendance has been about 3 time a week on average, but I need to increase that. I go three days and then I take a rest day and it all goes to hell in a handbasket. I just can't seem to bring myself to go back after a rest day. I think maybe not taking one is better -- it's not like I'm training for Mr. Olympia, I'm doing 30 minutes of cardio. Doing that every day is perfectly fine and I don't think my body really needs a rest day. Maybe when I get further along and start working out harder, but for now, rest days seem to be my downfall.

I'm going back to San Diego in five weeks for a 4-day trip to see my friends and get my annual physical done with my doctor. I lose my California insurance on June 1st and with it, my doctor, so I want to see her before I go. She's a wonderful doctor and has always been really supportive of me and my weight loss.  To the point that I worry I disappoint her when I go in to see her and haven't lost (or worse, gained) weight.  I'll have to find another doctor for my duration here in Las Vegas, but I'll definitely return to her once I move back to California.

In the meantime, I'm squeezing out everything I can from my insurance, which means I'm also going in for a mammogram, which I skipped last year, but need to start doing annually now that I'm almost 38 and my mom had breast cancer.  I want to make sure to stay on top of it.

I also want to be down about 10-15 pounds more before I go. I think that's a totally doable amount, but I have to actually do it and stop dicking around.  I want my doctor to see that I've been making changes, that it's really happening.  It's sloooooooowwww, but it's happening.  Right now, I'm still a weight she's seen me at before, so my goal is to reach a weight she's never had in her charts so that she can feel confident that I'm on the right track.  Hell, I want me to feel confident that I'm on the right track.  This is important to me and I need to prioritize.

I have friends coming in from out of town this weekend and there will definitely be adult libations, but I'll try to keep the dining out indulgences to a minimum. Starting Monday it's back to it so I can meet my short-term goal of 10-15 lbs by May 21st..  Maybe saying it here will make me not want to embarrass myself by slacking off.

Sometimes, I get upset with myself for not doing well enough, not trying hard enough, but beating myself up isn't going to make it any easier.  I've not gained any weight, I've made changes to my lifestyle and now I just need to crank that up a knotch. All I can do when I fall is dust myself off and keep going, like I've done my whole life.

Give Us This Day, Our Daily Bacon

Bacon is trendy, but I don't like it for it's status. I like bacon because it's not only tasty, it symbolizes joy and happiness and everything dieters think is verboten.  Every day, I eat bacon and every week, I lose weight.

Now, you might ask, but that's ludicrous, how can one eat bacon every day and still lose weight?  Well, it's not a bacon diet, I'll tell you that much. I'm not taking bacon supplements. It's not a topical bacon cream (um... ew).  It's just moderation.

Every morning, I have what I call The Daniel Sandwich. It's named after my friend Daniel who served me something similar for breakfast while I was visiting. I modified it a little in order to make it Weight Watchers friendly and it's not fancy, but it's all the goodness of breakfast, served up in a yummy portable sammich of delight. 

Ingredients

• 1 Nature's Own Whole Grain or Whole Wheat Sandwich Round, 2 Points (The Multigrain and Whitewheat varieties are 3 points)
• 1 egg (2 points) or 1/2 cup of egg whites (1 point)
• 1 wedge of Laughing Cow cheese or 2 tablespoons reduced-fat shredded sharp cheddar (1 point)
• 2 slices of Jimmy Dean Fully Cooked Hickory Smoked Bacon Slices (2 points for 3 slices, 1 point for 2 slices)

I use an olive oil mister to fry up an egg. I find it works better, imparts great flavor and doesn't have all the chemicals of Pam and the like, but you can use I Can't Believe It's Not Butter Spray or whatever turns you on.

I toast my round, then spread my Laughing Cow or sprinkle my cheese on one half. While my egg is cooking, I put 2 slices of the bacon in the microwave for 30 seconds. When it comes out, I break it in half and put i on top of the cheese so it can start the melting process. By this time the egg is done and I slap that on top of the bacon and cheese, top with the other half of the sandwich round and let it sit for a sec while the rest of the cheese melts.

Sometimes I hit it with a few shots of hot sauce, like Tabasco or Cholula for a kick.  This breakfast is usually accompanied by a 2 point low-carb yogurt (I like Kroger brand Carbmasters) and some fruit, like a sliced apple or a banana if I'm still hungry.

My whole breakfast, fruit and yogurt and, most importantly, bacon included...  7 points if I go egg whites, 8 if I go for the yolk action.

I never feel deprived, I feel like I get this awesome breakfast every day and look forward to it.  And I've consistenly lost weight at 1-2 pounds a week, as recommended by Weight Watchers.

Now, do my arteries love it? Maybe not, but I think as long as I keep my cholesterol in check otherwise, there's no harm in a little daily bacon.

(I'm not compensated in any way by Jimmy Dean or any of the companies mentioned in this post. These are simply the items I choose to buy and have found to have the right combo of Points to get the job done.)

Of Plateaus and Progress

It's been a while since I provided a proper update on how things are going with this edition of Let's Lose Weight.  One might think it's because things have sucked, but actually, I've been plugging along pretty well. I did finally hit my gain/plateau week, but I had houseguests for a week and PMS, so I considering the amount of vodka I ingested, my 1.4+ gain wasn't too bad. I promptly lost it and more bringing my current total to 17.8 lbs lost since January 3rd.

Could it be going faster? Most certainly. But I refuse to berate myself for not losing weight fast enough. I'm losing weight, period, and that's something. It's more than was happening before.

I also know why I'm not losing weight faster -- I could apply myself more by drinking more water and oh... I don't know... exercising.  But who wants to exercise?  Ok, I do. Or rather, I want to want to exercise, but as we can all attest to, it's one of those "fake it until you make it" scenarios. You just have to go through the motions until you get into a routine.

When I used to work out a lot and especially when I had a trainer, I did crave a workout. Oh, I'd bitch and complain and consider cancelling my sessions, but it helps when you're paying someone and cancelling means forfeiting that cash. But I also physically wanted that exercise high and sense of accomplishment. I've thought about getting a trainer again, and I probably will, but first I need to get into a little better shape.  Like, not-passing-out-on-the-elliptical-in-front-of-girls-in-leggings shape.

I think what helped me not gain much while my houseguests were here was all the running around we did.  Granted, there was a martini at the end of every sprint, but at least I got my walk on.  This past Saturday, I went to a concert and spent about 3.5-4 hours just standing around, but only doing a bit of walking. The next day, my ass and hamstrings were so incredibly sore, I couldn't figure out why.  Turns out holding up my ample ass for 3 hours burns calories even if I'm not breaking a sweat.

I've been saying I want to start exercising and I've done some things -- playing more Wii games, walking, just doing regularly active things, but the bottom line is that I spend the majority of my day sitting. So, if I want to meet my mini goals I've set for myself, I do need to make more of an effort to break a sweat and like, lift something heavier than a cocktail glass.

Image courtesy of Google images. Not sure of the original source.

Unsolicited, and Thereby Asshole, Things People Have Said Regarding My Weight

Last week, I was lying the tub, crafting this post in my head.  I vowed to write it the next day, then of course got distracted and forgot. But a tweet I read today reminded me.

I've had a relatively decent life. I've never been terribly oppressed or faced tumultuous living conditions. I was never beaten or living in a cardboard box.  I've never been addicted to hard drugs or found my solace in the bottom of a bottle. (Ok, sometimes. I LIKE RED WINE, OK?!)  I've had a few instances of snide comments or looks, having dated women and people of other ethnicities, but overall, not much.  While I won't say my life was 100% peachy keen, I sported a superficially garden-variety, upper middle class, white suburban upbringing. I also have breasts and am not unattractive, so it's not like it's been a hardknocked life.

Before you start deciding I'm an egomaniac (which isn't it sad that I feel the need to justify a simple, modest statement about my aesthetics?), I've never been what folks would call fugly. As a child I was chubby and had a big gap in my teeth, but when I got my braces off, grew 5 inches and entered high school, the boys were like, always in my yard, much to the chagrin of my father. Plus, my parents weren't too shabby and they made me and so, according to the rules of genetics and the standards of modern society, I don't have a face like a foot.  My point is, things have been cushy compared to a lot of people in this world, so I'm not here to pretend like I know what it's like to be on the receiving end of open hatred or discrimination. (Though, I think it's all relative.)

I say this, not to marginalize my hardships (because there have been some) or to downplay the scars on my psyche (there are some of those, too), but to nip in the bud the inevitable asshole who will say "Boo hoo, poor you." or whatever.  You know, whatever it is they want to say to make themselves feel better about being an asshole.

So, without further ado, I bring you: "Some Unsolicited, and Thereby Asshole, Things People Have Said Regarding My Weight"